30 May 2012

Call for Submissions for Ampersand Magazine: Issue 6 on 'Love'

Post date: 30 May 2012

Deadline: 14 June 2012

Ampersand Magazine is a curiosity journal based in Melbourne, Australia. We have been annual, we have been bi-annual, we have been quarterly. These days we are as frequent as necessary. Meaning, infrequently.

Ampersand explores creativity, societal change and the human condition through multiple disciplines. We are interested in the discussion of any subject matter, particularly that which is unfashionable, unorthodox, illuminating or rare. Ampersand brings together academia and popular culture, enquiry and humour, innovation and tradition, opinion and evidence. We have a penchant for history and echoes of the past. We are interested in all modes of visual art. We are political, and interested in the fallout of religion and globalisation. We intertwine it all with absurdity, sex and cheap laughs.

We invite you to take a look at the provocations below, taken from A Lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes.

Check out the submission guidelines below, and try to get your hands on a copy of Ampersand to familiarise yourself with what we do. When your homework is done, email drafts or finished articles (not pitches or proposals) to:

We do our best to reply to all submissions within 2–3 weeks, but time and volume may prevent us from providing individual feedback.

LOVE – we are looking beyond the euphoric light and into the shadows; of course you can’t have one without the other. The longing, the battle for individuality, the internal discourse, the extreme solitude.

But let there be light, too. We’re looking for good stories about incredible love affairs, about love within families, about how love can change the world.

As a further provocation, consider this list of the concerns of lovers, from A Lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes.

s’abîmer / to be engulphed

absence / absence

adorable / adorable

affirmation / affirmation

altération / alteration

angoisse / anxiety

annulation / annulment

attente / waiting

cacher / to hide

casés / pigeonholed

catastrophe / catastrophe

circonscrire / to circumscribe

coeur / heart

comblement / fulfillment

compassion / compassion

compendre / to understand

conduite / behavior

connivence / connivance

contingences / contingencies

corps / body

déclaration / declaration

dédicace / dedication

démons / demons

dépendance / dependency

dépense / expenditure

déréalité / disreality

drame / drama

écorché / flayed

écrire / to write

errance / errantry

étreinte / embrace

exil / exile

fâcheux / irksome

fading / fade-out

fautes / faults

fête / festivity

fou / mad

gêne / embarrassment

Gradiva / Gradiva

habit / habiliment

identification / identification

image / image

inconnaissable / unknowable

induction / induction

informateur / informer

insupportable / unbearable

issues / outcomes

jalousie / jealousy

je-t’-aime / I-love-you

langeur / languor

lettre / letter

magie / magic

monstreux / monstrous

mutisme / silence

nuages / clouds

nuit / night

objets / objects

obscène / obscene

pleurer / crying

potin / gossip

pourquoi / why

ravissement / ravishment

regretté / regretted

rencontre / encounter

retentissement / reverberation

réveil / waking

scène / scene

seul / alone

signes / signs

souvenir / remembrance

suicide / suicide

tel / thus

tendresse / tenderness

union / union

vérité / truth

vouloir-saisir / will-to-possess

COLUMNS

Columns appear at the front of the magazine, and include opinion pieces; true stories; dissections of art, literature, politics and history; reportage; commentary and criticism. 500 – 1500 words

FEATURES

Ampersand is open to a variety of authorial voices, from academic to idiomatic, from journalistic to idiosyncratic. Please familiarise yourself with Ampersand’s ethos and previous content before submitting. Essays must reflect the theme in some way. We appreciate supporting imagery if available, and are open to image-based features (just keep in mind they will be printed in black and white). 3000 – 4000 words

REVIEWS

Ampersand’s reviews are not about selling or unqualified opinions. Our reviews are on general subjects, and involve a first person narrative and exploration of one thing – an artist’s whole body of work, a place or a service, for example. We do not publish unfounded rants or matter related to mainstream culture unless they are striking, contextualised interestingly or humourous. 500 – 1500 words

VERSE (FICTION AND POETRY)

Ampersand publishes two short stories and the work of one poet in each issue. 2000 – 4000 words

SPECIFICATIONS – Please submit your work as a Word document, accompanied by an introductory email giving a brief explanation of what you are sending, its word count, and which section you think it would suit.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

– We pride ourselves on excellent editorship, and have pride in our writers for their superior research.– Please no physical submissions (email only)